#fae plays ffxiv

[faerieenthusiast]

Went ahead and made a new character for FF14, this time on PC. Didn't really do much in the free trial when I tried on PS4. That one was a catboy I named Mi'ku Moon. But this time, I have a new catboy.

Meet Ta'sha J'unior! I named him after my actual cat, Tasha. The J in J'unior is pronounced like you would in French. I'll call him Ta'sh or TJ for short. I gave him a long fluffy tail, and he's a shorty. Got nowhere to go with him for now.

[candycryptids]

Malta and Azazel go to the carnival for a spirited night out OuO There's a new haunted house that Az thinks Malta will like...

... And of course Louis is there to meander about while Malta bullies Az with all the jumpscares...

Azazel uses He/Him and belongs to @meatybits Malta uses They/It

[lavampira]

🦋🦋🦋

[anneapocalypse]

I do not yet have an answer to the question "Do you need to eat/drink when your soul is separated from your body and just faking being corporal" a la the Scions on the First, but either way I feel that the only reason there aren't more abandoned tea cups lying around Urianger's house is that the pixies keep stealing them.

[impossible-rat-babies]

not the titania leitmotif playing during the pixie quests like I’m crying chief

[sheeshiki]

oh they're gorgeous!!!!

[ceruleanbender]

"I'm craving freshly squeezed orange juice. Aaaahhhh!"

[anarkhebringer]

Sith Lord Kermit voice: make more drow OCs

[helladventurers]

SQUENIX REALLY JUST INCLUDED THE ONE MOUNT I WANT TO GET (short term anyway) ON THE IRREGULAR TOMESTONE EVENT HUH

[darkmagenugget]

Meet Nova (They/It/Fae). A previously unknown Headmate we discovered this week. They are a trickster fae who had me play a guessing game to figure out which character inspired them. Turns out, Feo Ul from FFXIV. So this design is inspired by Feo Ul. But with it's own flare for Nova.

[yuri-is-online]

I guess I can call myself a returner of interest in Fyuuture kid au to the masses, and I'm proud of it🏅 the part with other four dorms was absolutely amazing! Thank you! And your reply to my previous message was so heartwarming. My baby boy🥹 Yuu really should beat the magical marshall with a slipper when they meet again, no one touches THE bestest boy😤

It seems like I'll have to write down my questions, cause I tend to forget them in two minutes 😔 but there's the one I remember:

It was discussed in one of the posts (Riddle!Yutu), how does Yutu look like?🤔 I thought he would bear more resemblance with Yuu, so everyone wouldn't quickly (or immediately with some fathers) make conclusions. Does he have beastmen characteristics if his dad's from Savannaclaw? Does he inherit Idia's hair? Can he transform into octopus/eel/dragon form? (In twisted wonderland, I mean, not in Yuu's homeworld. I've read that post💅🏻) Is he as tall as the twins? 🤔 imagine 190 sm or 6ft 3, duckling following you

Have a nice day/evening, take care of yourself!

You should be very proud of yourself annon I am having a lot of fun with this! The Magical Marshall's are a government organization so the image of Yuu charging a fed with a slipper gave me a laugh, but yes they should. How dare they hurt Yutu ୧(๑•̀ᗝ•́)૭

imagine 190 sm or 6ft 3, duckling following you

Hand slipped. Anyway Yutu wears a pretty big sweatshirt sweater dress type thing that obscures a lot of his facial features though I did briefly play with the idea of him wearing a sort of mask similar to an FFXIV ash mask:

The justification was that the air in the future timeline! Twisted Wonderland was so polluted by blot and Yutu was so used to breathing it he needed some magical assistance... I think I also wrote some bullshit about the mask applying a glamour to Yutu so he didn't need to wear the big sweatshirt, but I feel like the mask would be more suspicious than just some guy who wants to keep his hood up.

As for those unique features, yes. With the exception of Malleus! Yutu, all of the non human Yutus found themselves transforming into an entirely different species when they came through the mirror into Twisted Wonderland. It was an extremely painful experience, imagine having your parent basically die in your arms and the next thing you know you are turning into a giant pacific octopus on the floor of a castle in front of a bunch of people. Yutu should be rewarded for not losing his shit then and there. The beastmen Yutus needed some time to adjust to having stronger hearing and senses of smell, the merfolk Yutus basically missed the first few months of magic education getting used to their merfolk forms, and Yutu Shroud had his hair instantly set itself on fire and had a massive panic attack. The beastmen Yutus have to keep their extra features tucked underneath their hoodie, which is very frustrating for Jack! Yutu who has a lot of floof that suddenly has nowhere to go. Lilia! and Sebek! Yutu don't have any noticeable appearance differences (unless you like the thought of him having Sebek's hair color), but I do like the idea of their teeth getting sharper. I prefer to leave a lot of Yutu's appearance up to the reader, but I had a super clear picture of Riddle! and Epel! Yutu as being short, and the more I think about the merfolk... I see Floyd! Yutu as being a sort of middle ground between his parents's height and Jade! Yutu as being about as tall as his dad. Oh and Azul! Yutu is taller than his dad, he is a bulky boy.

Now. Malleus! Yutu. So dragon fae hatch from eggs that can only be created out of love and constantly need to receive magic from their loving parent. That clearly didn't happen with Yutu, so I don't think he can transform into a dragon. He is still clearly inhuman, he has Malleus's eyes and ages much more slowly than other humans, even in your world he looked really young for his age. Think of Malleus! Yutu as sort of playing by half-elf rules, he's going to be living for hundreds of years and as he gets older he will grow tiny horns and some scales around them. He is also the strongest of the Yutus magically speaking, he did get some love from his father after all.

I did have a thought of sorts about the whole egg thing... I mentioned before that I had played with the idea of giving certain Yutu's siblings, and while I am still uncertain of the others I can see Malleus! Yutu having a twin of sorts who did hatch out of an egg, who can transform into a dragon, and who would have been left behind in Twisted Wonderland. I have so many ideas I wrote a lot of them down but this au is already so complicated I don't know if I want to add her. I do really like it though...

[terramythos]

Anyway here's my breakdown of the ffxiv jobs, my opinions on playing each, and the tier rank of how good their story was

TANKS

WARRIOR - warrior is so fucking funny why did they make it able to solo heal itself and the entire party in 90% of the content in the game. Raw Intuition/Bloodwhetting is so broken in dungeons its hilarious. And then they have like 3 additional healing skills on top of that. And they kept buffing it throughout Endwalker. So it is currently the easiest to play, does the most damage (i think...?), and has the best healing of any of the Tank jobs. 2nd fave probably.

Story Tier: C, it's ok, Curious Gorge is a good name. i have like nothing to say about it it's a generic AF story

PALADIN - I used to hate PLD but I think the partial rework they got halfway through Endwalker helped it a lot. It's much less clunky now. Probably still my least favorite Tank though Hallowed Ground is fun and it's pretty close to Gunbreaker for me.

Story Tier: F, this is the worst class storyline in the entire game. It's so stupid. The writing is so bad the writers acknowledge it makes no sense at all and I'm like. Yeah, thanks, I am experiencing this shit. Perhaps write a story that makes sense next time instead of pointing that out.

DARK KNIGHT - Unfortunately this is my favorite Tank 🫡 which is rough since it has the worst survivability out of any of them. But I love how you use MP and the silly number of OGCDs. The Blackest Night is such a fun ability and it's a crime that it's not a baseline skill you get from the start. Why do they have so many DRs that only cover magic damage. I must ask.

Story Tier: S, there's a reason it's the most popular and well regarded class storyline. It's really good, also the only questline I know of that uses the quest log text as part of the narrative. Outside maybe a few of the very late Endwalker quests. And, well... same writer lmao

GUNBREAKER: I think GNB looks cool as fuck and I like that it has 2 DPS rotations. The Gnashing Fang combo is so fun. Superbolide memes are always fun. My main issue with it is a skill issue because I am just constantly misaligning its burst windows.

Story Tier: C. It has some interesting lore but I found it pretty forgettable as a story.

HEALERS

WHITE MAGE: I hated White Mage for a while but something clicked and now I totally get it. I find it fun in dungeons cause you get to Holy spam and stun lock everything. As uh. The healer. That's fun. Once you get Afflatus heals (and then Afflatus Misery) it clicks. It's fun maximizing damage and playing chicken with the tank's HP.

Story Tier: B, you get a lot of lore around the Padjal, and I think the Stormblood story where you find a padjal living in hiding with her mother is pretty good! Also it's not technically the job storyline but there's a WHM side quest to get a unicorn mount? i guess it's technically a CNJ quest but same diff. no one else gets that shit. so that's cool

SCHOLAR: probably my least favorite of the healers... it just feels super clunky. You can tell a bunch of different design philosophies went into it over the years and none of them mesh very well. They've made it so the Fairy Gauge controls literally one spell. Why have the gauge at all? It's also a huge missed opportunity that there's no tie in or interaction with the fae in Shadowbringers. I love the idea of a battle tactician healer but I think it needs a rework.

Story Tier: B+, I liked the characters and its the main way to get backstory and lore on what happened with Nym.

ASTROLOGIAN: While I think AST has a similar issue to SCH (lots of different design philosophies over the years) I find it way more fun to play. I like the card mechanic and how it interacts with the rest of the party. AST is basically the only job that has its own like. Minigame? As part of its rotation. And I know a lot of people don't like the RNG for it but personally I find it fun. I know AST is getting a redesign in Dawntrail so hope it's good.

Story Tier: C? I think? I'll be honest I don't remember it super well but I didn't find anything objectionable about it. And I like the tarot aesthetic and lore and how it's healing based on manipulating luck.

SAGE: I think SGE is tons of fun, I'm not sure if I like it or WHM more. I love all the skills SGE has for preventing damage and the gimmick where your DPS heals someone in the party. Visually the hi-tech laser shooting healer is a lot of fun. IT HAS A GAP CLOSER. The only thing i wish was it wasn't so MP negative and that it did more damage. It's a little sad its DPS output is so low compared to the other healers (even AST when you factor in how it buffs the party). Since SGE is supposed to be a healer that heals through damage it's silly its damage kinda sucks.

Story Tier: A, I loved this storyline. Both the Endwalker job stories are very self contained and interesting. While the twist is pretty obvious it's still an interesting exploration of uh. Scientific ethics. Yeah

PHYSICAL MELEE DPS

MONK: I've probably played MNK the least of the phys melee but I like the whole adaptable combo thing. Not much else to say since I have played it so little. Might bring it back out and try again. It DID have the funniest guide in the Balance discord for a while.

Story Tier: D. I think? I remember thinking it was dumb, lmao. Sorry.

DRAGOON: MAN I wished I liked DRG more. It looks so fucking cool and I like how it interacts with the dragon lore. But I find it very punishing to play. To do good damage you have to align so many different cooldowns... and snapshot your DOT correctly... and screwing one thing up just fucks your DPS output forever. Like AST I believe this is being reworked in Dawntrail so I hope it feels better to play.

Story Tier: C+. I think it starts strong since you get to meet Estinien pre-Heavensward and it melds nicely with that story. But I found it pretty directionless post-HW which is a shame.

NINJA: I remember finding this one fun. I like that there are different combos you do that have varied finishers depending on the situation. I am just... bad at remembering which combo to use to get which finisher, lol. So I haven't played it as much. NIN gets a lot of flavor other jobs don't get with their unique run and jump animations. And you get a Bunny of Shame on your head if you fuck up a combo, which is incredible.

Story Tier: A. The Rogue story is probably the most memorable of the basic class quests. Ninja just has great characters and a fun story. What is with that one guy. Karasu? If you know you know. I also like how the Rogue characters show up later in the Ninja story. That's fun.

SAMURAI: I had a similar experience to WHM here because I initially hated it then really came around once it clicked. SAM seems very complex, it has a ton of buttons and different combos. But it is actually quite intuitive once you figure out the general pattern. And it does INSANE damage. I think it's the highest DPS output in the game? I love building the combos and then doing a huge finisher for a bajillion damage. The guaranteed crits and constant OGCD weaves make me feel unstoppable. I think this is tied with RPR for me.

Story Tier: B+. I found the exiled samurai character and his journey toward redemption very compelling. I won't spoil beyond that. However it does fall apart a little in the second half. Still fun but not as good.

REAPER: I love RPR, the teleportation is a lot of fun, and I love finally unleashing the demon form and going ham on the enemy. The weapons are the coolest looking in the game. Every scythe design hits. I probably played this the most in Endwalker. My main critique is the Death's Design mechanic. I hate having to keep a stupid debuff on the target to do damage. It's like a dot but without the optimized snapshotting. If they want to keep this idea i think it would feel better to change it into something like SGE's Kardia where you apply it to one enemy to do increased damage to it without having to worry about reapplying it. not sure how they would balance this for aoe but that's not my job. But even with that caveat I still really enjoy the job.

Story Tier: A+. While it doesn't reach the highs of DRK's story it comes close. I love the badass old lady main character. Her hunting a voidsent that possessed her grandfather would be cool enough but making her a Garlean exile in hiding who grudgingly agrees to train you just adds an extra cool factor. I really enjoyed this story. As a bonus theres a lot of incidental dialogue in the post-6.0 Endwalker story if you completed the RPR story because it ties in a lot.

PHYSICAL RANGED DPS

BARD: It's a bit clunky, its got some outdated design elements, it has one of the lowest damage outputs in the game... and i LOVE IT. this was technically the first job I ever played? totally different character like 8 years ago. and i was so so bad. I think i am actually pretty good at current BRD. the animations look cool. i like that it's a class you really need to work for and optimize to eke out that last bit of damage. and boosting everyone else's damage by existing is kinda neat.

Story Tier: B. I'll be real I barely remember this but I do remember it was gay as fuck so immediately gets an extra tier for that.

MACHINIST: MCH is really funny right now because like. It's phys ranged, right. The design behind phys ranged is you have 100% uptime cause you can freely move around and not have to worry about cast timers or melee range or anything. So the trade off is that they do less damage than other classes. Endwalker MCH did not get the memo and does insane damage anyway. My controversial opinion is that it has similar burst DPS to RPR. No i will not elaborate. I'm also bad at doing good damage on MCH which is impressive since it is easy.

Story Tier: B+. Some Ishgard noble's gay son wants to build machines instead of killing dragons the good old fashioned way and has to prove himself to get taken seriously. A tale as old as time. See I haven't done this quest in like years but I still remember it. He is a memorable character. It's just not like. knockout wowza compared to the A tier stories.

DANCER: Dancer is the second easiest DPS job in the game behind SMN. So if i am sleepy it's the one I like playing. You play simon says. you do a lot of damage when you play simon says then do almost no fucking damage otherwise. I think it's the lowest direct damage in the game? for a dps i mean. You have high stakes sexual tension with a DPS of your choice via Dance Partner. I wish other DNC players knew how Dance Partner works. YOU CAN DANCE PARTNER ANOTHER DANCER. THE BUFF STACKS. BUT YOU CANNOT DANCE PARTNER THE SAME PLAYER AS ANOTHER DANCER. THOSE BUFFS DO NOT STACK. ok i'm good. anyway

Story Tier: C. there's some shit about negative emotions and purging them? in theory i think this has some interesting implications with Endwalker lore considering Dynamis and its role in the story. Very similar mechanically to what's going on with the DNC story. but i really don't think the writers made the connection so it's like pure speculation and not the actual story. It's meh. fine i guess. i did like all the flashy dancing sequences.

MAGICAL RANGED DPS

BLACK MAGE: I am so so so so so so so bad at BLM. i pull up the guide. i read the guide. it all makes perfect sense. i go into a dungeon or trial or something. somehow i always get like Zeromus or some shit. and i drop Enochian or something and everything goes to shit and i'm yelling and i'm not even like slide casting or teleporting or anything i just run around crying. then i remember i have like 10 more buttons i haven't been pressing and oh god the dot fell off. people play this? for fun? i admire it. apparently they do a ton of damage if you can play it. could not be me.

Story Tier: B? There's some voidsent and Thirteenth lore. all the black mage characters are Lalafell because it's funny i guess. OH YEAH it has like the one named male Keeper of the Moon Miqo'te NPC in the entire game and he's fun. look at this twink:

sorry i don't have anything to say about BLM i am bad at it

SUMMONER: easiest DPS job in the entire game. they redesigned it for Endwalker so it is practically a new job. i have no idea how it played before. but it is super streamlined. maybe too streamlined? it's another one to play if you want to turn your brain off. i like that at 90 you summon The Actual Primals instead of little representations of them. and i like the way your burst phase switches between Bahamut and Phoenix. it all looks very cool. they should add Leviathan as a summon in Dawntrail.

Story Tier: C.. i don't remember a single thing about this questline except you interact with Y'shtola's half sister. i think you go to Cartenau at some point. idk

RED MAGE: RDM is one of those jobs that looks really complicated when you start then you actually play it and it is just super super easy. that being said i think it's really fun. I like balancing the white and black magic gauges. Dualcast is a great gimmick and it feels cool to lob two big spells in a row at something. Dualcast Verraising a chain of dead players is so fucking funny. it's a shame that the existence of Verraise means RDM does shit damage to compensate for its utility. It and DNC just sit at the bottom with BRD barely scratching ahead of them. i think? i don't remember LOL

Story Tier: A, I really like the story and characters. I like that you have a middle-age world weary catboy (catman) as your mentor. and i like that he canonically trained Alisaie too and you chat a little about that. it's a fun story!

BLUE MAGE: what the fuck is a blue mage

Story Tier: ???

[vahalia-cress]

Vahalia Cress || Smash or Pass

Rules: pretty self-explanatory. include physical descriptions or pics, and propaganda. the “other” label can be used for “sexuality misalignment” (ie: oc is femme and you’re gay, vice versa or you aren’t into smashing but a specific thing you wanna do with them like perhaps hug or study them under a microscope idc).

Tagging: @belgravexiv - @promethea-silk - @the-sycophant - @nightingale-xiv - @osric-giroux-ffxiv - @carrera-ffxiv - @fair-fae - @charm-in-spades - @luck-and-larceny - @kodie-ffxiv - @cyrus-ffxiv - @argentrenard - And anyone else who would like to do it and hasn't yet!

quick facts

height: 5’8"

age: 28

gender: cis woman

pronouns: she/her

sexuality: heterosexual

pros

Ambitious

Adventurous

Independent

Charming

Calculating

cons

Stubborn

Blunt which often hurts feelings

Has an interest in the Void

Business before pleasure: 9 times out of 10

Doesn't typically open up to others

details

Plays the violin

Knows how to make fun stuff and not-so-fun stuff: poisons, tonics, narcotics

Enjoys baths as a way to relax

Knows several languages

Sexually: A switch and quite explorative in the bedroom

Romantically: Isn't someone who likes strings attached or does well with 'feelings' being involved. She cages that part of herself away for someone else.

She tends to have a hidden dark side but is often kept well under wraps.

Likes to invest in things, people, and places out of pure curiosity to see where it leads.

Can be trustworthy and loyal depending on how you treat her.

[dovalore]

i bought a pair for stock the pond recently and decided i’d make a badge for them and their kids

lore under the cut

aruktai, the 'fae'

he's actually a guardian! he ended up turning into a fae after he was slain in battle while protecting ransetsu

it's pretty weird for him to be in such a small body now, but at least he's still alive...

the reason he's a fae right now is that he's the descendant of a guardian who's charge is a phoenix and their bloodline's been blessed (or cursed) so that a guardian can't die unless their charge does

normally they'd stay as guardians, but he was wounded badly enough that only a scrap of him remained

aru's still very much a guardian in spirit, ransetsu is still his charge even if he no longer has his old body

well, he tells everyone that, but his true charge is actually ransetsu's freedom, his ability to live his life as he pleases, which naturally comes with the man himself

it's easier to tell those unfamiliar with the concept that his charge is another dragon instead of something so... theoretical?

ransetsu, the ridgeback

he's from a filthy rich family of merchants that deal in goods produced in the ashfall waste

he's not interested in inheriting this 'empire' at all, the thought of it stressed him out to the point of him running away, which is exactly how he met aruktai

which was a massive boon for him because he's absolutely awful at trying to take care of himself, he's the kind of guy who's walk directly onto a rake and introduce his forehead to its handle. it's bad

he's always liked aru from the start because y'know he's quite literally the only person who listened to his reservations about being in the family business and went, "okay, let's go far away from this place then." instead of immediately trying to return him for well, a dragon's ransom

their relationship

ransetsu's without a doubt head over heels for the mysterious man that literally appeared out of the blue and whisked him away from his old home. he's... not experienced when it comes to romance, but his efforts to impress aruktai are nothing if not from the heart. he still clumsy as ever

aruktai... is flattered. he's not playing 'hard to get', he just genuinely doesn't know what to do in this situation because he's never thought about being in a relationship with anyone. the search for his charge all but consumed his every waking moment and now that he's found it, he's free to pursue one

lucky for ransetsu, aruktai does find his attempts to court him incredibly endearing. unfortunately for both of them, he also feels like he doesn't really deserve to be the center of his attention, not after he failed to protect ransetsu from getting captured to be used as a bartering chip

aruktai did manage to free him again, but the incident left him way more shaken than he'd liked to admit. if it wasn't for his blessing, he wouldn't be alive at all and would've died a failure

this isn't something that has escaped ransetsu's notice and while he can never know the depths to which aruktai feels the way he does about what happened, it's plainly obvious to him that this is something that's constantly weighing him down

the whole ordeal was incredibly unpleasant for both of them and aruktai doesn't know that he's not the only one who feels personally responsible for it. ransetsu doesn't know how to fight, why would he? he's never had the cause to do so since he's been pampered his entire life

their offspring

they aren't canon lol i just wanted to make cool lore for a pair of dragons

if you do happen to receive one of their offspring you don't have to follow anything i say here or even keep them connected at all, do whatever

-----

SURPRISE BONUS LORE

you thought i was done? wrong! i have ffxiv lore for them too because i love lizards, mild spoilers for stormblood?

aruktai buduga

he's from the steppe

and he would've happily spent the rest of his days there if he didn't absolutely hate magnai's guts, he vehemently opposed his brothers' decision to join hands with the oronir, but alas his voice fell on deaf ears

he fought daidukul about it and lost, so he packed up his bags and left entirely

from then on, he became a travelling mercenary around the far east

ransetsu final fantasy

sorry i don't have a surname for him yet LMAOO

he comes from a family of blacksmiths and armourers who are obscenely wealthy

his family quickly found out that while he was absolutely awful when it came to metalwork (clumsy), he had a gift for selling their wares to customers simply by talking about what they could do

so he basically became their ambassador

one day he got jumped in a backalley after leaving a restaurant, aruktai happened to be there so he sent ransetsu's assailants packing

ransetsu immediatey decided to buy his services permanently by hiring him as his persona guard

their relationship

ransetsu absolutely decks aruktai out in the finest armour he can get his hands on, to him a warrior such as him absolutely deserves the best of the best

aruktai's honestly a little starstruck by how this all played out, all because a guy was grating to the point of him leaving the steppe...

anyway ransetsu's basically aruktai's glucose guardian now (they're roughly around the same age) and he gets whatever he wants because he's so good at fighting

spending money on aruktai brings ransetsu immense joy

[chidorisjournal]

FFXIV Write 2024 - Day 6 - Halcyon

Took some inspiration from the original Halcyon myth. It was fun to convert it to FFXIV.

Trae stretched, feeling the slight overabundance of heat against her skin that meant she needed to move, even as she was loathe to do so. Long, sun soaked days, where the snow was almost golden in the light and the wind was, well, as gentle as the winds were in Coerthas anymore, were a rarity anymore. She was loathe to move and break the spell, the soft reminder of a time before the calamity when more than trees carefully tended and magiked were green. And yet she also had no desire to need to see a healer because she'd burnt her nose. That had been an unpleasant afternoon. Grumbling, softly, she shifted, sitting up from the hanging swing she'd been more than half asleep on, setting the book that had been covering her face aside.

This must have been some sort of signal, as she found herself suddenly surrounded by the littles. Orphans from across the cobbled street and dragonets from where ever it was they spent their evenings. Trae suspected Ehll Tou had a nest somewhere she hadn't bothered to inform anyone of, given the number of younglings that seemed to just conveniently show up at the Brew for snacks, stories, and 'socialization' that involved learning crafts and cooking and other mortal foibles. Not that any of the dragonets would call it that. No, it was all just fun and games. Still, their piping voices and play with the orphaned children of Dangoulin's Devotion benefited both sides, and taught each group both patience and the intelligence and creativity of the other. If nothing else, she thought, even as they begged her for a story, this generation would be less likely to fall prey to the manipulations and outright lies of the long war. Dragons, Trae mused, even as she carefully set her book aside and started to think through her litany of stories, had long tails and longer memories. Hopefully the mortals could keep up their side of the bargain this time.

The soft scent of coffee nearby told her she had one extra audience member, curving her lips in a soft, secret smile, even though she did not look away from the children before her to greet the tall shop owner. His presence, though, changed her story choice. Humming, softly, she beckoned two of the dragonets a little closer, tapping her toes until they picked up the beat. Dragons were creatures of aether and song, and it was barely an effort for the claws to pick up the rythmn her feet were tapping out. A few of the children caught on, clapping along, with varying success, and yet Trae smiled anyway. Somewhere, she hoped, Shiva was watching and smiling too.

Humming a few notes, she was delighted to hear the dragonets not keeping the beat pick up both a soft bass line and low harmonic, the bones of the song fleshing out quickly as the various groups figured out how they were supposed to work together. Once the start of the song had settled into a self sustaining cycle, she started her story, told in the old way.

"In the time before there was time, Before the warm wakening of spring Before summer's halcyon afternoons Before autumn's color riot and fae rings.

When Oschon's mountains rose and fell, Thaliak's rivers ran reckless as colts in sunlight Llymlaen's seas devoured whole places still unnamed And the glitter of Nymeia's stars spun brillant night."

A dragonet, recognixing the song, piped up, adding it's voice, a trilling soprano against her lower contra-alto, and they continued, the history of the star, though the smaller voice fell away as the story turned to the creation myth she'd been intending to tell. Still, she smiled at the youngster, nodding her encouragement.

"and so, Oschon, who masters the cold wind, saw the mourning, the depth of grief from Alcyone, and whispered to his own beloved, his own forever parted, Llymlaen, whose depths caught the pair in their misfortune

and thus was born the Halcyon, the bird who dives and swims who flies free, he who sings to his mate, she who lets him chase and the days when they are safest, when Oschon stills the winds and Llymlaen's oceans rest to keep the lovers safe."

[eorzeanflowers]

10 Fandoms, 10 Characters, 10 tags

Basic rules: choose 10 fandoms that you are part of/support, and choose a favorite character from each of those. Then, tag ten folks!

Tagged by: @miqojak Ty for the tag!!! Sorry it took a hot minute.

Tagging: Uhhhhh, @terminuspride, @fair-fae, @alannah-corvaine, @voidsentprinces, @healerstail, @ahollowgrave, @alicelufenia, @starrysnowdrop, @briar-ffxiv, @driftward

Now to the list! In no real particular order cause I really just drift from thing to thing.

Penny Polendina (RWBY)

I love my quirky little robot girl. She's the absolute best, a brilliant fighter and very emotionally intelligent. She is such a cheerful ideal, someone who tries to see the best in people. She knows when they've gone too far and isn't afraid to stand up for what she wants! Which is the whole core of her little arc. Being a weapon given a soul and all. It is a beautiful story of a little girl who cares so much and wishes to be able to just... be that cheerful little girl without the weight of the world. Its just so sweet.

Honorable mentions: Ruby, Weiss, Blake, Yang, Oscar, Neo

2. Kafka (Star Rail)

In all honesty she's the reason I'm even playing Star Rail. She is such a mysterious character, with a voice to die for. Yes, Hoyoverse characters tend to be rather shallow (that's a gacha game for ya), but Kafka just hits everything I love in a character. Her character short when she was fully released is... *chef's kiss* just amazing. I will admit, every time she does her ult in game I join her in saying "Boom." ^_^;

Honorable Mentions: March 7th, Stelle (Trailblazer F), Seele, Bronya, Jingliu

3. Lyse (FFXIV)

Shocker, the leading lady of Stormblood is still my favorite? Honestly, all three of the ladies from Stormblood are the trifecta of favorites. (Lyse, Fordola and Yotsuyu) The various storylines that cause them to interact is such a delight. I wasn't too bothered by the whole "Yda was my sister" thing, cause well, Yda was barely in the game post ARR... And like, it was always Yda and Papalymo. Never just one or the other. So when Lyse got the chance to shine and actually take center stage, I was smitten. She's tough, gentle, sassy, collected, brilliant, a bit silly, and more. Such a well written character. I'm still upset she left the scions tbh. Could've added a little hair color diversity by a little bit. :P

Honorable mentions: Aymeric, Hilda, Erenville, Zero, Y'shtola, Thancred, Ryne, Gaia, Minfillia

4. Gideon Nav (The Locked Tomb)

Ok, seriously, this series grabbed me by the throat and would not let me go. Gideon is such a lovely first viewpoint (and I adore all the viewpoint characters). She takes no shit, talks a lotta shit, and can fight a whole heck more shit. The way she interacts with Harrow at first, then the other Necromancers and their Cavaliers is such a delight. Sure you hate Harrowhark so much Gideon, why are you obeying her command to not speak a single word to literally anyone else, hmmmmmmmmmmm?????? Also the gay panic that Gideon seems to have on the regular is just. Great. I don't want to speak too much more on Gideon, cause this series is just great and you should read it.

Honorable mentions: Harrowhark Nonagesimus, Nona, Camilla Hect, Ianthe Tridentarius, Coronabeth Tridentarius.

5. Raiden Ei (Genshin Impact)

Last time it was Eula, now it is Raiden Ei. It is always a toss up between them, if I'm being honest. Ei is just... such a sad puppy? XD Its the best way to describe her. So trapped in her own past and trying to do what would best preserve her sister's memory... She's just SAD guys. Yeah, she may not be the best governing force for her nation, and she indirectly killed a lotta people with her retreating away and leaving a puppet behind, but we the Traveler showed up and fixed things! Also she gets two amazing boss fights, I honestly wish I could do the story one again but I ain't working through Mondstat and Liyue again. >.>;

Honorable mentions: Eula, Alhaithem, Deya, Kamisato Ayaka, Zhongli, Nahida, Navia, the Wanderer, Wriothsley

6. Karlach (Baldur's Gate 3)

KARLACH IS THE BEST AND SHE IS SO SWEET AND LOVELY AND SHOULD NOT HAVE TO GO BACK TO HELL OR DIE OR [redacted]. She is such a lovely goofball that even shows platonic love if you don't romance her and I really think that is great! Her arc tying into Gortash was delightful, bringing her much more into the story instead of just a bystander like a couple of them. (Like out of all the origin companions Astarion barely has any connection to any of the major players in the story, he's pretty self contained tbh.) Her sweetness, the way she says she's gonna eat dirt if you leave her camp, and her cheerful demeanor are just.... Amazing. I'm really running out of words for Karlach cause she is my favorite. I'm gonna have to start BG3 up again and actually play my romance run of her soon.

Honorable mentions: Shadowheart, Wyll, Astarion, Lae'zel, Dammon, Orin, Jaheira, Minthara, Isobel, Aylin

7. The Doctor (Doctor Who)

Ok, a bit of a cop out since, you know, they are the star of the show. BUT COME ON. The Doctor in their various iterations have been so enjoyable. My personal favorite is Tennet's 10, but Capaldi's 12 is a strong second. Its just a good show to binge at times. There are a lottta good episodes, a few really bad ones, but overall its a good time. The scene at the end of the special where they rescue Gallifrey is still one of my favorite scenes in the whole franchise. And hell, the Archeologist is based (loosely) on them, so how can I not include them?

Honorable mentions: DONNA NOBLE, Rose Tyler, Clara Oswald, Bill Potts, Me, Strax

8. Xion (Kingdom Hearts)

Have I mentioned I love tragic characters? Xion is literally the definition of tragedy, with all the problems with her just existing lol. Her presence in 358/2 Days really made the game for me. Roxas was kinda bland and having someone that was similar in age (like Sora, Riku and Kairi were) to interact with made it all that much better. AND SHE GETS THE HAPPY ENDING. Eventually. Boy is it a long road, but that's Kingdom Hearts for ya.

Honorable Mentions: Kairi, Namine, Riku, Sora, Aqua, Terra, Master Xehanort, Isa, Lea

8. Lucina (Fire Emblem)

I really wanna pick someone else in all honesty, but Fire Emblem has a worse problem than Hoyoverse games in their bit characters. :/ Lucina is a strong character that really delighted me when I played Awakening. She's such a surprise that it really helps make that Fire Emblem my favorite. She's got a good supporting cast too, with Robin and her dad Chrom, but Awakening was really her game. Chrom was kinda there just to be her dad lol

Honorable mentions: Robin, Chrom, Ike, Mist, Soren, Sumia, Erika, Marisa, Lyon, Elincia

9. Trevor Belmont (Castlevania)

Full disclosure, I have not played his game, in fact the only two castlevania's I have played both feature non Belmont's as the lead players (Portrait of Ruin and Order of Ecclasia). But the way Trevor is in the show, OH BOY. He is rough, he is blunt, he is smart, he is SOOOO dumb, he is loyal, he is a fighter, he never gives up, HE IS JUST GREAT. He's also one of my biggest Bi panics when he shows how much of a badass he is in episode, I think, 4 or 5 or later? Its been a hot minute since I watched that series. When he first uses the flail weapon that I forget the name of.

Honorable mentions: Shanoa, Jonathan Morris, Charlotte Aulin, Sypha Belnades, Alucard, Dracula

10. Aigis (Persona)

Aigis is a super cutie and I love her interactions with the female protagonist. I really wish P3 wasn't such a long game and Aigis actually showed up a little earlier. She's just a doll! I do need to try and find a copy (or emulate) FES to play the storyline with her as the lead singer. Its just so rough to get thru P3 I just lose motivation. T.T I've made it to the vacation part with the female lead, like, three times and no further cause my motivation tanks. WHICH IS WEIRD CAUSE THAT'S WHEN YOU MEET AIGIS. Its just too long for me I guess. XD

Honorable mentions: Teddie, Female lead P3, Male lead P4, Yukari Takeba, Mitsuru Kirijo, Akihiko Sanada, Fuuka Yamagishi, Shinji Aragaki, Junpei Iori, Chidori Yoshino, Elizabeth, Theodore

Not gonna lie, kinda struggled to find a full 10 franchises to pull a character from. My mind just goes blank when asked my favorite character from X place. Names escape me and everything. XD But as you can see, I love robot girls, strong girls, mysterious girls, tragic girls, a fail man, and traveling weirdo.